SIPRI sees increased role for Russia in modernising Central Asia’s military

March 12 2014

Aleksey Alikin

Ruskaya planeta

Military units of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan during Peaceful mission-2012 military exercise. Source: mil.ru

China, despite its key role in Central Asia’s economy, remains aloof to military issues, not wanting to engage in conflict with Russia.

Russia remains the principal partner
for Central Asia’s armed forces. According to research carried out by Dmitriy
Gorenburg , an analyst at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute
(SIPRI) titled ‘External Support for the Military and Security Forces of
Central Asia,’ Moscow’s influence in this region can only grow once NATO and
U.S. Forces have withdrawn from Afghanistan.

In the analyst’s opinion, despite
increased spending on the military, only Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are in the
process of forming a combat capable military, while Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan
have difficulty in forming even small, rapid reaction corps. Tajikistan’s
problems stem from a lack of specialists that are capable of developing a plan
for structural reform of the nation’s armed forces.

The SIPRI report’s author thinks that
the external threat from radical extremists is real, however it is exaggerated
on a regular basis by both local security forces, and their Russian partners.
Dmitriy Gorenburg says that the main issue for the ruling regimes in Central
Asia is internal unrest and instability.

Turkey is attempting to establish
contacts in the region with mixed success, and furthermore India is looking to
do the same in Tajikistan. China, despite its key role in Central Asia’s
economy remains aloof to military issues, not wanting to engage in conflict
with Russia. The report notes that Europe’s defence industry is of interest to
local regimes with the money to purchase new weapons.

During military operations in
Afghanistan the U.S. remained an influential player in the region, not
necessarily by offering assistance with military hardware, but by providing
education and training programmes for local forces.

Gorenburg forecasts that the
withdrawal of the Coalition and NATO forces from Afghanistan will leave Central
Asia’s leaders alone to face a series of threats, since the majority of them
are not capable of developing armed forces that meet international standards.

Russia meanwhile remains the
principal source of external support to Central Asian nations, supplying not
only armaments, but also training local servicemen, modernising obsolete
technology, and offering financial assistance.

Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan has established a fruitful
partnership with Russia and has one of the most stable economies in the region.
The country is looking to develop modern armed forces.

The first bilateral deals to procure
armaments were for the Kazakh Air Force. At the end of the 1990s, Kazakhstan
purchased 14 Su-25 ground attack aircraft, 12 Mig-29 fighters and a number of
training aircraft from its Russian partners. Today Russia plays an active role
in modernising the Kazakh Air Force.

Between 2004 and 2011 Kazakhstan
acquired 47 Mi-17 helicopters (including modified variants). In recent years
however Kazakh leaders have shown an interest in helicopters produced by
European manufacturers. They continue to acquire Russian armoured personnel
carriers, and contracts to supply 190 BTR-82A vehicles were signed in 2010 and
2012. Kazakhstan also became the first
overseas customer for the experimental BMPT (armoured tank support vehicle)
known as the ‘Terminator’: the first three vehicles were delivered in 2011 and
a contract for a further 9 such terminators was subsequently signed. The same
year three TOS-1 Buratino vehicles were commissioned by the Kazakh Army (this
is a heavy multiple rocket launching flame thrower system based on the T-72
tank).

In January 2012 Russia and Kazakhstan
signed an agreement on a unified air defence system. Under this agreement the
Kazakhs are due to receive the S-300PS missile defence complex, a modification
of the S-300, production of which has now ceased.

The Kazakh Navy is at last building
Katran missile boats developed by Russian designers from the TMKB Almaz
(Central Naval Design Bureau) in their own shipyards. Two of these vessels have
been launched in recent years.

Uzbekistan

Practically all the country’s armed
forces are of Russian or Soviet origin, but the Uzbek government is not
carrying out as active a modernisation of its own army like Kazakhstan.

Since 2000, Tashkent has been
procuring Russian rifles, including machine guns and sniper rifles. In the
1990s around 170 BTR-80s were delivered to Uzbekistan and a further 50 armoured
personnel carriers were delivered in 2001. Russia has played a part in the
repair and modernisation of Uzbek military aircraft on several occasions. For
example in 2004 Russia installed equipment on MiG-29 and Su-27 aircraft, which
enables them to operate at night and in adverse weather conditions.

Uzbekistan is interested in other
types of Russian armaments, including air defence systems and anti-tank
rockets. The country’s main priority however remains the repair and
modernisation contracts for existing technology.

Turkmenistan

Five years ago the Russian-Turkmen
arms market was almost non-existent. This was influenced by considerable
poverty, the isolationist policies of Ashkhabad and an impressive reserve of
armament and technology, which the country inherited from the Soviet Union. However
ageing Soviet technology together with an increase in the state budget owing to
revenues from the export of gas, have altered the situation markedly.

The first contract with a Russian
manufacturer was an order for 6 RZSO (multiple rocket launcher) Smerch
vehicles. A pair of Mi-171 helicopters were acquired in 2009 as well as 8
BTR-80A vehicles. Turkmenistan’s leaders ordered 1,040 Kamaz trucks from Russia
as well as other transport vehicles to serve the needs of the Army. Two
contracts, totalling 40 vehicles, were signed to supply T-90S tanks.

Russia played a key role in creating
a new Navy in Turkemistan, two large Molniya missile boats and 2 Sobol coastal
defence ships have entered service. Delivery of a further three Molniya vessels
is expected by the end of 2014.

Kyrgyzstan

Russia has been cooperating with this
country since the end of the 1990s, although the supply of armaments on a
permanent basis began after the agreement to accommodate Russian servicemen on
the Kant airbase in the Chuy region in Kyrgyzstan. Under this agreement,
Bishkek receives $4.5 million worth of military support by way of a grant every
year. This is divided equally between military equipment and training. In 2003
a pair of Mi-17 helicopters was transferred to the country. As part of
additional annual military contributions the Kyrgyz Army received a consignment
of rifles, flak jackets, night vision goggles, communication systems and
military uniforms.

In 2012 under a bilateral agreement
on the expansion of the Russian military presence Moscow offered Kyrgyzstan $1
billion worth of military support. The list of military equipment offered for
this sum of money was never published, however what is known is what Bishkek
wanted. The Kyrgyz Ministry of the Interior requested 2 combat helicopters, 5
armoured personnel carriers, 44 trucks and minibuses, a few hundred rifles, and
40,000 sets of police uniforms. The country’s armed forces would like to
receive an unspecified number of armoured personnel carriers, guns, mortars,
portable missile defence systems, motorbikes and satellite communication
systems.

Russian cooperation with Dushanbe
comes more by way of support for her military presence than in the acquisition
of new armaments. Nevertheless the Tajik Army received two Mi-24 combat
helicopters in 2006, and 4 modernised L-39 training aircraft in 2007.

It is reported that Russia may send
all the old hardware from the 201st Russian Military Base to Tajikistan. This
refers to 160 T-62 and T-72 tanks, 160 BTR-70s and BTR-80s and 140 BMP-1s as
well as dozens of howitzers, portable missile defence systems and
flame-throwers. There is still no information on the fate of this military
equipment.

The latest agreement on extending the
lease of the military base, ratified by the Tajik parliament in October 2013
mentions $200 million in military support, mostly for air defence systems and
repairs.